


The Banshee's Wail

by vincentvandope



Series: Howlkyuu!! [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29262612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincentvandope/pseuds/vincentvandope
Summary: Things seemed to be taking a turn for the better, but shortly after securing a place in the Spring Interhigh, the Karasuno pack is dealt a new blow: Yachi’s been kidnapped. But they have the help of Aoba Johsai, and they won’t rest until they get her back.(part 4 of the Howlkyuu!! series)
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yachi Hitoka, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Howlkyuu!! [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127321
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	1. If I Could Change The World, I’d Make It Halloween

“I am beyond proud of all of you. You played incredible games this last few days and, like I knew you could, you’ve gotten yourselves to the Nationals.” Coach Ukai’s glass shook a little in his hand when his eyes stopped on the chair they had left empty at the other end of the table. “If he was here, he’d have a poetic speech for you, or he’d make one up on the spot, but this is the best I’ve got, so… congratulations, guys. You were amazing.”

  
“Yeah! Well said, coach!” Saeko led the standing ovation, never one to let others be sad if she could help it. “C’mon, I don’t wanna see any tears! You guys won!”

  
“That’s right,” said the coach, tapping his hands against the table. “Let’s eat!”

  
Hinata didn’t need to be told twice. He thought back to their last meal like this, when they lost against Aoba Johsai on the third round of the past tournament. Now they were back at the same restaurant, their sights already set on the Spring Interhigh in Tokyo next January, and while being there without Mr. Takeda still stung every day, Hinata knew he would want them to enjoy themselves. So he ate and talked and laughed and tried not to look at the empty seat too much.

  
“Hey,” Daichi said halfway through the meal, “we were invited to a Halloween party next week.”

  
Suga took his phone to read the message. “Really? Oh, the Johzenji guys? Yeah, we’re going.” Daichi looked at him questioningly. “What? They seemed fun. And we haven’t gone out partying in so long… Never with this team! And we’re going to Nationals, we have to celebrate!”

  
“Okay, okay, I’m on board!”

  
“Yeah! I miss party animal Suga!”

  
“Yeah, dude.” Noya and Tanaka high-fived. “Is it a costume party?”

  
“Yes?” Daichi blinked. “Did I not say Halloween party?”

  
“Oh, man! We have to think of a couple’s costume!” Noya exclaimed, still looking at Tanaka.

  
Asahi turned to him. “Wait, with me or with Tanaka?”

  
“Babe. Don’t be ridiculous. Of course with Tanaka.”

  
“We always do a couple’s costume for Halloween, Asahi,” said Tanaka, giving him a wink. “Don’t get jealous!”

  
“Okay,” Asahi nodded slowly and went back to his food, “but my costume is going to be better than yours.”

  
Noya snorted. “Good luck with that.”

  
“You’re going to love it.”

  
“Oh, yeah? You already thought of it? Just now?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Noya turned to Tanaka. “Dang, he’s already winning. Quick, think!”

  
“Do you want to do a couple’s costume?” Hinata asked Kageyama.

  
“Uh… sure. I don’t usually do anything for Halloween, though. I don’t have any ideas.”

  
“It’s okay! I’ll think of something. Hey, Daichi, where’s the party?”

  
“I’ll forward you the message. It’s their captain’s place.”

  
Hinata read it and frowned. “That’s so far… My parents won’t let me go if I have to bike all the way home so late.”

  
“Could one of them come pick you up?”

  
“I don’t want to bother them with that… They already get home so late… I think I might just not go.”

  
“What if you stayed the night over at my house?”

  
Hinata beamed at Kageyama. “Really?”

  
“Sure.”

  
“Can I see embarrassing childhood pictures of you?”

  
“But I will confiscate your phone first.”

  
“Deal!”

  
. . .

  
Hinata went to Kageyama’s house to leave his backpack before the party and get ready. Their costumes were pretty low effort: Kageyama threw on a yellow sweatshirt he already owned with the hoodie pulled up, and Hinata had an old clown costume from elementary school that still sort of fit. Kageyama, channeling his sister’s make-up artist skills, painted Hinata's face like the clown from It, and they left for the party.

  
There were groups of people waiting outside the huge house, and some of Karasuno had already arrived. Daichi and Suga were there, and their costume was perfect. They were an old married couple, and Hinata wished he would have thought of something that allowed him to go out in a robe and pajamas. They looked very comfy. Suga even had put rollers in his hair. Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita had gone as the Powerpuff Girls, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup respectively. Kiyoko and Yachi were in all black, cat ears and drawn on whiskers.

  
“We made them ourselves!” Yachi exclaimed, fixing her headband. “And these, too!” She pointed at the black necklace around her neck with a little golden bell.

  
“You two look adorable.” Suga took her hand. “What is this ring? I love it!” It was a gold ring with a rose detail. Hinata agreed that it was beautiful.

  
“See?” Kiyoko smiled at Yachi, who looked over the moon. “I had to convince her to wear it. She said she’d always wanted to but never found the occasion.”

  
Suga blew a raspberry. “What do you need an occasion for? Just wear it whenever you want!”

  
“My dad sent it to me for my last birthday,” she said, turning it around her finger. “I think I’m going to wear it every day from now on.”

  
“As you should!”

  
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi arrived. Hinata clapped at the latter. He was wearing a suit made of a mash up of fabric scraps and had painted his face green with black suture marks here and there. He also wore a headband, but this one had screws going out the sides of his head. “Frankenstein!”

  
“I’m Frankenstein,” sighed Tsukishima. He was wearing normal clothes with a lab coat on top. “He’s Frankenstein’s monster.”

  
“Nobody likes a know-it-all,” Hinata answered, sticking his tongue out at the blond.

  
“It’s very basic general knowledge.”

  
“Asahi!” Yamaguchi’s jaw dropped. “That’s awesome.”

  
Hinata had missed him, as he’d been standing behind Suga and Daichi when they’d arrived, but before he could agree, a car pulled up, and Noya came out of it screaming.

  
“No way! Asahi, I love you!”

  
People were turning their heads and then turning back around, not understanding the costume, but the rest of Karasuno did. Asahi was wearing his other volleyball uniform, the orange version that Noya usually wore since he was the libero. He had a full set of knee pads on as well as an elbow pad, and he’d even dyed the middle part of his hair to imitate Noya’s little blond tuft.

  
“Do you like it?”

  
Tanaka made his way from the other side of the car. “Dammit! He did win!”

  
“You dressed up as me!? I love you so much!”

  
“You guys look amazing!”

  
“Don’t we?”

  
Noya did a backwards cartwheel and stood up next to Tanaka. The libero was wearing a pigtailed wig dyed red and blue and a pretty good Harley Quinn costume, baseball bat included. Tanaka had come as the Joker, Hinata thought, because it gave him the chance to wear a jacket with no shirt under it. They had both scribbled the tattoos from the movie on the other one and these didn’t look the best, but the idea was there.

  
“Hey, get your things out!” Saeko yelled from the driver’s seat. “I’m missing my show!”

  
“Guys, check it out,” said Tanaka, opening the trunk. “We got the alcohol!”

  
“I got you the alcohol,” Saeko corrected him. “Nobody tell anyone. I don’t want to get fired. Anyway, everyone be safe and say thank you, coolest sister ever!”

  
The second and third-years thanked her. Hinata was too in shock to speak. He turned to Daichi and Suga. “You’re going to drink?”

  
“You guys can drink too, if you want.”

  
“Really?”

  
“Yeah! I’m a cool mom,” Suga said with a wink.

  
Saeko left and, after a head count, Daichi announced that they were going in. They walked into the huge house, music blasting from seemingly everywhere. The captain of Johzenji greeted them at the door. He was wearing nothing but red shorts and devil horns, and gave Daichi a little opaque bag.

  
“Have fun, Miyagi representatives!” Terushima said, checking out their outfits. “I did say to wear sexy costumes.”

  
“We had to balance yours out,” Daichi answered. “You went all out, I see.”

  
“That’s how we do it in Johzenji!” He showed off his tongue piercing for emphasis. “Come on, get in, mingle! You’re in my house now!”


	2. Drunk For The Very First Time

The house itself was pretty packed, but the main party was out in the backyard. They found a couple of empty couches and Hinata watched as his upperclassmen mixed the alcohol with soft drinks. They had brought empty plastic bottles too, and they threw in a pill from the bag Terushima had given their captain on most of them.

  
“They’re made from an herb that counters our werewolf abilites,” Suga explained as he handed out filled bottles, “since alcohol gets absorbed too fast because of our healing to do anything. So be careful, alright? The dose makes the poison. This one,” he handed one to Asahi and another one to Yachi, “and this one just have regular alcohol. Okay, don’t drink from any bottles that aren’t ours! Be safe and have fun!”

  
“You’re leaving?”

  
“Yeah, we have people to greet,” said Daichi, taking a bottle in one hand and putting the backpack with the extra bottles on his shoulder. “You guys have fun! But drink responsibly!”

  
The third-years left, and the second-years wanted to go dance immediately, so the youngest five were left alone on the couches. Kageyama was the first to pick up a bottle. He took a swig and nodded.

  
“Have you ever drank before?” He shook his head. Hinata took another bottle made of the same mix and tried it. He scrunched up his face in disgust. “Ew!”

  
“Don’t drink, then.”

  
Hinata pouted. “But I want to get drunk. I think. I don’t know. It looks fun in movies?”

  
“Tsuki, which one do you want?”

  
“Akiteru has given me alcohol before. I don’t care for it.”

  
“Well, I’m going to try it.” Yamaguchi’s face did the same thing as Hinata’s at first, but then he smiled. “Okay, alright. It’s weird!”

  
Hinata drank again. “I don’t like it.” He saw Yachi look at him. “Do you want to try it?”

  
“I don’t know…” She took her bottle, twisted the cap off and smelled it. “No, I don’t.”

  
Hinata kept sipping and making the same pained face every single time. But he thought he could feel it taking effect. Kageyama insisted that he didn’t feel any different, but Yamaguchi was also slowly getting drunk. He started leaning on Tsukishima, who was on his phone and barely talking to anyone but Yamaguchi. At first, he tried to push him off, but he gave up when Yamaguchi threw his legs over his.

  
Hinata just felt even happier than normal. He let himself lie against Kageyama’s arm and started commenting on people’s costumes with Yachi.

  
“And you look so cute, Yachi!”

  
“Thanks! You look cool! Did you get the costume for the party?”

  
“No, I had it from another costume party from elementary school.”

  
She paused. “Elementary school?”

  
“Don’t remind me. I’m already embarrassed.”

  
“I mean… the sleeves are a little short. You did grow a little, didn’t you?” Hinata gave a big swig and didn’t answer. “I think I see tables with food. I’m going to grab something. Do you want anything?”

  
“No, thank you!”

  
“Okay, anyone else?”

  
Nobody was hungry, so Yachi left to get food for herself. Tsukishima pushed Yamaguchi’s legs away and pulled him up with him. “Let’s slow down, okay? Let’s go for a walk.”

  
“Tsuki! You’re worried about me?”

  
“Give me the bottle.”

  
“No!”

  
“Yamaguchi…”

  
“I like it!”

  
Tsukishima sighed and nodded at the other two. “See you.”

  
Hinata turned to Kageyama and gave him a kiss. The setter laughed nervously. “I made you giggle!”

  
“No, you didn't. You just took me by surprise.”

  
“You giggled!”

  
“I didn’t. This is giggling. Shoyo,” Hinata covered his mouth, “you’re really cute.”

  
Hinata burst into giggles. “You’re lying! I look like an evil clown!”

  
“And it still worked.”

  
“I’m gonna get you to giggle!”

  
“I doubt it.”

  
“You know what I just realized? I like, almost never compliment you. I’m the worst boyfriend.”

  
“You’re too busy giggling.”

  
“You’re really handsome.”

  
Kageyama started blushing. “Stop it.”

  
“And you know I’m not lying like you, because you look like you always do. Handsome.”

  
“Stop!” He went for a sip, but his bottle was empty.

  
“You’re not giggling, but you’re all red! It’s working!”

  
“It’s the alcohol,” he said, grabbing Tsukishima’s bottle.

  
“You got red when I complimented you,” Hinata whispered. “I was checking.”

  
“Yeah?” Kageyama grabbed his face and kissed him. When they broke apart, Hinata was also blushing furiously. “Ha! You’re red now too.”

  
“Oh, no… I’d hate for you to do that again…”

  
“You don’t say… Let’s go dance.”

  
“You want to dance? Let’s go!”

  
“Hey, do you know that guy?”

  
Hinata got up and found an angel, halo, wings and everything, waving at them. “It’s Aone!”

  
“Who?”

  
“From Date Tech! Let’s go say hi!”

  
“What about Yachi?”

  
“We’ll look for her later. Let’s go!”

  
. . .

  
Yachi had finally managed to make her way to the snacks table and was fixing herself a plate when someone tapped her shoulder. “Hello, kitty.”

  
A guy she vaguely remembered from the Aoba Johsai game was standing behind her. “Um, hi!” She looked at his costume. “Are you… Italian mafia?”

  
“I’m Danny Zuko? From Grease?”

  
“Oh. Okay. Sorry.”

  
“I’m Yahaba,” he said with a smirk that creeped her out even more. “And you look really pretty.”

  
“Thanks…” she said, wishing Kiyoko was there for help. She raised her plate. “I should get back to my friends.”

  
“Oh, but I can’t let you go without getting your number.”

  
She laughed uncomfortably. “Um… I really should get going…”

  
“Come on-“

  
“Get lost.”

  
His eyes finally left her. “You get lost, Mad Dog. We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

  
“She doesn’t want to give you her number.”

  
Yahaba’s jaw was trembling. “You know what-“

  
“Yahaba!” Oikawa and the ace of Aoba Johsai appeared, dressed in white off-the-shoulder tunics, laurels on their hair. “Are you flirting again?”

  
“And getting rejected,” Iwaizumi added, “again?”

  
He scrambled for an answer, but Oikawa spoke over him. “I apologize on his behalf, banshee.”

  
“It’s Yachi.”

  
“I probably won’t remember.”

  
“Why do you have to be so fucking rude?”

  
“You’re the one cursing all the time, Iwa!”

  
“That has nothing to do with being rude!” Oikawa shrugged and started to leave. Iwaizumi put a hand on Yahaba’s back and pushed him away with them. “Bye, Yachi.”

  
“Bye!”

  
“Bye, Yachi!”

  
“Shut the fuck up, Yahaba.”

  
Yachi was left alone with the one he’d called Mad Dog. She did remember him, from the night of the red moon. He was wearing a headband with dog ears on top of his blond hair, but that was the extent of his costume. He cleared his throat. “You’re a banshee?”

  
His voice was softer than when he was talking to Yahaba. “Yes.”

  
“What’s that?”

  
She laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know either. I just… know things about death? It’s all still pretty new.”

  
“Cool.” He caught her facial expression. “Or not.”

  
“You’re a werewolf, right? I mean, of course you are, I saw you that night, when… um, yeah.”

  
He nodded. “Kyotani Kentaro.”

  
“Yachi Hitoka.”

  
“I’ll stop bothering you now.”

  
“No, you weren’t!” She felt herself blushing. “Thank you for helping.”

  
“Don’t sweat it. He’s really annoying.”

  
“Who?”

  
“Yahaba?”

  
“Oh! Yeah, thanks for that too. But I meant the other night.”

  
“Right. I’m sorry about your teacher.”

  
Yachi looked away. She noticed she had been holding his stare for a surprising amount of time, for her standards. “Yeah, me too.”

  
He pursed his lips. “Well. I’ll go now. Bye.”

  
“Bye!” Alone again, she took a deep breath and went back to her friends.


	3. We’re Going On A Trip In Our Favorite Rocket Ship

Yachi’s friends were not on the couch she had left them in, but her bottle was, so she was not confused. They had left without her. She tried not to panic. She walked to the backyard, but she was too small to see over the closest people to her. She couldn’t find the second-years, or anyone she knew, and someone bumped into her, making the snacks she’d taken fly out of her plate and onto the floor. The food was quickly smashed and she went back into the less crowded living room and left the empty plate on a table. Her hands were getting sweaty as her anxiety grew, so she wiped them on her trousers. When she turned around to keep looking, the first thing Yachi saw was the blood dripping down his chin. She jumped from the scare. A fanged grin preceded Tendou’s roar of laughter.

  
“Blondie! You look lost!”

  
“Hi! I lost my friends!”

  
“Did you try texting them?”

  
“I didn’t even think about it!” She texted the first-years group chat, but no one answered.

  
“Wanna come wait with me? We’re right up there!” He pointed at the ceiling. Yachi had seen the balcony while she looked around.

  
“Okay!”

  
She followed him upstairs. After walking past many closed doors, at the end of the hallway, a small balcony with some patio furniture that overlooked the backyard seemed to have been claimed by the Shiratorizawa. The music wasn’t as loud there.

  
“Someone lost a cat! She’s gonna wait here for a while.”

  
The Shiratorizawa guys greeted her. She remembered most of them from that full moon, but she didn’t really know them, so she sat next to Tendou, who sat next to Ushijima. They were all dressed as vampires. Tendou had gone very classic, with his red hair slicked back and, she realized now, he was even wearing a blood-stained suit. Others hadn’t put that much effort, but one of them was dressed in completely casual clothes, except his face and hands were covered in glitter. “What are you supposed to be?”

  
He frowned and she regretted the question immediately. “You see, Tendou thought it would be hilarious to tell me, and only me, that we were going as Twilight-style vampires. So imagine my shock.”

  
“Semi-Semi, I was right! It was hilarious!”

  
“To you.”

  
“I thought it was funny too,” Reon said. Tendou raised a hand for a high five. “It was also kind of mean. I’m not high-fiving you.”

  
“Wakatoshi, high five!”

  
“I do not understand the joke so I do not know if you deserve it.”

  
“Yachi? High five?”

  
“Um… sure.” She was wary, but this time she didn’t get any death-related feelings. But that’s when she noticed her hand. “Oh, no.”

  
“Please, don’t tell me I’m dying again.”

  
“No!” Her eyes started to itch with tears. “I lost my ring!”

  
“What does it look like?”

  
“It’s gold and it has a rose on it.” She could feel the sobs coming. “I can’t believe I lost it. I’m so stupid.”

  
“Hey! No one talks like that about my friend!” Tendou got up. “I’m gonna find it. You guys take care of my blondie. You can look out into the backyard, see if you find your friends, how’s that sound?”

  
“Yeah, okay.” Reon handed her a tissue. “Thank you.”

  
“Don’t mention it.”

  
She walked over to the railing and scanned the backyard. Yachi hadn’t seen it from the ground floor, but there was a pool down there. Some people were in. She scanned the crowd, but she couldn’t be sure if she recognized anyone, wearing costumes as they were. She checked her phone, but there were still no answers, so she sat back down.

  
There was a small pause and she looked at her phone again, too shy to talk to anyone there without Tendou. Conversation resumed around her. She kept refreshing the chat to nothing. Her stomach growled.

  
“Are you hungry?” Ushijima asked. “I think there is food downstairs.”

  
“Yes, I tried to get some earlier, but I didn’t get to eat it.” She remembered Yahaba. “I don’t think I want to go back there.”

  
“I’m starving,” Semi said, tapping Reon’s leg, “want to come get something?”

  
“Sure. We’ll bring something up for you, Yachi.”

  
“Okay! Thanks!” Her crying had left her dehydrated too, so she turned to Ushijima. “Do you guys have any water?”

  
He handed her the bottle he’d been drinking from. She sniffed it. It didn’t smell like anything. “Tendou has some food in his backpack. I am sure he will not mind. He is always insisting that you eat.”

  
“Oh, I don’t know…”

  
“He would offer it to you if he was here. I would not be surprised if he brought food just in case he saw you.” He took the lid off a container. “Do you like brownies?” The noise coming from her stomach was answer enough. She grabbed a piece and Ushijima hesitated for a second before taking one too. “He always says that I would not like them, but I like everything else he bakes, so I think I will try one.”

  
Yachi took a bite. It was heavenly. “This is really good!”

  
“Agreed.”

  
She was halfway through her second piece when Semi and Reon came back. Semi took one look at them and gasped. “Are those Tendou’s?”

  
“Yes. Why do you look so worried?”

  
“Do you think he’ll be upset?” asked Yachi through a mouthful.

  
Reon had his hands together in front of his face as if in prayer. “And she’s not even a werewolf. Holy- Spit it.” He pointed at the tear-stained tissue she’d left folded on her lap. “Spit that out.”

  
“What is happening?”

  
“Blondie, I’m so sorry, but I can’t find your-“

  
“Tendou! This is your mess.”

  
“What are you…” He saw the container. “Oh.”

  
“What’s ‘oh’ mean?” Yachi bunched the tissue around her half-chewed piece of brownie. “What’s wrong?”

  
“Those brownies were… not for you. Neither of you.” He took the container and closed it. “How many pieces did you eat?”

  
Yachi whispered, “one and a half?”

  
“I had four.”

  
“Shit.”

  
“What is it?”

  
“They’re werewolf-grade pot brownies!” Tendou threw his arms up in the air. “You know this! I told you when you asked the first time I baked them!”

  
“I do not understand the problem.”

  
Tendou raised his eyebrows. “Pot brownies? What do you think that means?”

  
“That you… mixed them in a pot?” Someone snorted. Yachi started sweating.

  
“Pot means marihuana. They have weed in them, Wakatoshi!”

  
“Then why did you not call them marihuana brownies?”

  
“Because no one says that!”

  
“I did drugs.” Ushijima started sliding down the couch. “I am going to prison.”

  
“I did drugs too!” Yachi started crying again. “I can’t go to prison! I’m too weak!”

  
Ushijima looked at her, dead serious. “It is my fault. I will protect you.”

  
“You two wouldn’t be going to the same prison.”

  
Yachi cried harder. “Semi, you’re not helping!” Reon crouched down to meet Yachi’s eyes. “Hey, you’re like sixteen. You’re not going to prison.”

  
“I gave drugs to a sixteen-year-old.” Ushijima lay down on his side on the floor. “I am going to prison. My life is over.”

  
“Nobody’s going to prison!” Tendou sat down in front of him and pushed him up to a sitting position again. “Listen, your system is going to process that by the end of the night and then you’ll be fine. Just don’t freak out on me, okay?”

  
“What about me? I’m not a werewolf!” Tendou looked at her and didn’t answer. “I’m going to die!”

  
Ushijima started slowly falling sideways again. “I killed her. I am going to prison forever.”

  
“Nobody’s dying either!”

  
Yachi’s nose was running and she could barely see through her tears. “How do you know?”

  
“Do you think you’re going to die?”

  
“Maybe?”

  
“Well, you’re the banshee. I think you’d know.”

  
She sniffled. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.”

  
“Here.” She accepted another tissue from Reon.

  
“Yachi? What’s going on here?”

  
Yachi yelped. She turned around to find Daichi and Suga looking very confused. She looked at Tendou. “Please, don’t tell them I ate weed!”

  
“You ate weed?”

  
She gasped. “How did you know?”

  
Suga started laughing. Daichi looked at Ushijima. “What is-“

  
“Tendou, do not tell them it was my fault!”

  
The alphas turned to Tendou. “You see, there was a misunderstanding.” Suga did not stop laughing through the explanation. “I really am sorry about this.”

  
“I think we’ll be taking her now,” Daichi said, helping her get up from the couch.

  
“Keep an eye on her and give her a lot of water. And food that doesn’t have weed in it.”

  
“I’m sorry…” She was crying into Suga’s robe while he patted her head. “Do you think I’m going to die?”

  
“Of course not! Look, I’m going to eat one so you see how it’s no big deal.” He held his hand out to Tendou. “Come on. Share.”

  
Tendou cackled. “Alright, Sugawara! I see you!”

  
“I don’t think a demonstration is necessary,” said Daichi, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

  
“It’s just to make her feel better!” He took a bite. “This is really good. You should take one.”

  
“I’m good, thanks…”

  
“Your loss.” He downed the rest and waved goodbye at the Shiratorizawa. “Bye, guys!”

  
“One for the way?” asked Tendou, offering him the brownies again.

  
“I think he’s had en-“

  
“Don’t mind if I do!”


	4. I’m Not As Think As You Drunk I Am

Suga was rubbing Yachi’s back to comfort her while Daichi gave her a piggyback ride out. They had left the other first-years outside, a little worse for wear than when they arrived, but they had been okay. Now, they walked out of Terushima’s house to a whole different picture.

  
“Perfect timing,” said Tsukishima with a half-contained smile.

  
He was sitting on the curb with Yamaguchi on top of him in a full body hug, but one of his arms was limp at his side. He had his face turned against Tsukishima’s neck, but a sudden loud snore let Suga know that he was alive.

  
Kageyama, on the other hand, was probably wishing he wasn’t as he threw up in a street bin. Hinata was holding his hair away from his face.

  
Daichi sighed. “Text the second-years. We’re leaving.”

  
Kiyoko and Asahi appeared around the corner with a water bottle pack and started giving them out to the kids while Suga texted. The second-years didn’t want to leave yet, and since Ennoshita, who was not drinking that night, assured them that he had them under control, they left Asahi in the party and started their walk back home.

  
Between Kiyoko and Hinata walked Kageyama, feeling a little better, but not by much. Yamaguchi was just sleepy and Yachi had finally stopped crying, but now, every time she saw flashing lights of any kind, she thought it was the police coming for her and she hid behind Daichi, apparently believing that they wouldn’t find her there.

  
“Let this be a lesson of how much you guys can drink, okay?” Suga slapped Kageyama’s shoulder. “Especially you.”

  
“I’m never drinking again.”

  
“If I had a penny…”

  
. . .

  
Suga and Daichi left Hinata and Kageyama at the latter’s house under orders to drink a lot of water and eat something before going to bed. Hinata was feeling a little buzzed, but he’d barely sipped through half his bottle. He didn’t enjoy alcohol.

  
He helped Kageyama get to his bedroom as silently as possible, but he was feeling shy about going to a kitchen that wasn’t his to get food, so he decided to put his pajamas on first, to give himself time to gather the courage.

  
“Oh, I forgot!” He took a paper bag out of his backpack. “I brought cookies!”

  
“Cookies?”

  
“As a thank you gift for your family for letting me stay the night.” Hinata opened the bag and showed him. “I made them with my mom, and Natsu helped decorate them, look.”

  
Kageyama grabbed one with his name written on it in blue icing. They were chocolate chip cookies, and there were others with his parents’ names and some with little flower drawings and other designs. He tried one and smiled. “This is really good.”

  
“Thank you. Are feeling better?”

  
“Yeah. I’m dying for sleep, though.”

  
“Okay.” Hinata started fixing the bedroll they’d laid out for him, but Kageyama took his hand.

  
“Sleep with me?”

  
Hinata smiled from ear to ear. “Okay.”

  
He wasn’t used to sharing a bed, so they rolled around a bit, getting comfortable. He ended up as the little spoon, with Kageyama’s arm around his chest. Hinata put his hand over his and interlaced their fingers, and they slowly drifted off to sleep.

  
. . .

  
In the next volleyball practice, they talked about the party before the adults arrived. Tanaka and Noya had both ended up jumping in the pool and, much to Asahi’s disappointment, Noya hadn’t lost the real wooden baseball bat he’d bought for his costume. He maintained it was an accident waiting to happen, but Noya insisted that it was safe with him. Yachi was on Asahi’s side. She was hailed as the new party animal of Karasuno while she tried to hide into her sweatshirt, but Coach Ukai and Saeko walked into the gym and the conversation switched. Although, given Saeko’s amused smirks while she said hi to everyone, Yachi got the impression that she’d already heard about it all.

  
“I have news!” the coach said. “We’ve been invited to Aoba Johsai High for another practice match.”

  
“Really? After they lost to us?”

  
Coach Ukai shrugged. “They won twice against you and you’ve only beaten them once, so don’t get too cocky. Your matches are always… intense, so I think it would be good practice before the Nationals. And I already said yes, so this is more of an announcement.”

  
“No, that’s great news,” agreed Daichi. “We should get all the practice we can before January.”

  
“Good, because it’s this afternoon.”

  
“Be here right after class or we’re leaving without you!” said Saeko, twirling the bus’ keys around a finger. “I mean it.”

  
Tanaka shivered. “She does. I had to walk home once because I showed up late when she was picking me up.”

  
Everyone took the threat seriously and went straight to the gym after the last class of the day. Saeko drove while Coach Ukai gave them pointers about the other team and discussed strategies. Yachi took notes here and there. She’d been very nervous when she started training to be the next manager, but she felt by now she was getting the hang of it. Kiyoko had been very helpful with that, just like she always was with everything. She’d ended up spending the night after the party at her house because Yachi was still upset and feeling weird, and her mom was gone again. Yachi didn’t want her to leave at the end of the year. She could never handle the guys, or herself, the way Kiyoko did. What was she going to do without her when she graduated?

  
“Yachi, we’re here,” she said, snapping her out of her daydreaming.

  
They filed out of the bus and unloaded their stuff. Yachi had never been to the Aoba Johsai campus, so she was looking around curiously as they walked up to Gymnasium 3, and crashed into Yamaguchi when the group stopped.

  
“Welcome back, little crows.” Oikawa greeted them at the door and shook hands with Daichi.

  
“So nice of you to invite us,” Daichi said sweetly, imitating his tone. “Ready to lose again?”

  
“Don’t thank me. This wasn’t my idea. Nevertheless, we will be winning this time. Again.” He chuckled lightly. “The other day was just a fluke.”

  
“Sure,” Suga put a hand over his heart, “whatever helps you sleep at night.”

  
Oikawa rolled his eyes and turned around, walking into the gym. The Karasuno team followed.

  
Yachi was organizing the water bottles when someone cleared his throat behind her. “Hi.” Kyotani was holding a hand out to her. “I think this is yours.”

  
She took the rose ring. “Oh, my God, it is! I thought I lost it! How did you find it?”

  
He shrugged. “I saw it on the floor at the party, next to some couches. I thought it was the one you’d been wearing. I tried to find you again, but it was really packed.”

  
“Thank you." She put it on and flexed her fingers, getting used to its presence again. “Seriously, thank you so much.”

  
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. Yachi thought he might be blushing a little bit. It felt a little like a victory that she wasn’t, but then the thought of him blushing because of her made her own cheeks hot. “I have to go warm up. Bye.”

  
“Right! Have a good game!”

  
“You too! I mean…” He shook his head. “Thanks!”

  
She turned back to the water bottles and saw Kiyoko and Saeko smiling at her. The teacher crossed her arms and approached her with slow steps. “Well, well, well… He’s totally into you.”

  
“What are you talking about?” Yachi’s face was definitely red now. “He was just giving me this ring back. I lost it at the party.”

  
Kiyoko gasped. “That’s great! How did he know it was yours?”

  
Saeko’s grin grew wider and Yachi shook her head sharply. “Stop that! We talked at the party. This guy, their number six, wanted to get my number and he just helped me, that’s all.”

  
“Aw,” Kiyoko was definitely agreeing with Saeko, and Yachi didn’t know how to make her stop, “yeah, number six was also trying to flirt with you at the qualifiers.”

  
“What?”

  
“Remember when you almost got hit by a volleyball? He had just dropped a ball your way to try to get your attention.”

  
Saeko looked at him and her nostrils flared. “I can get his mother’s number and tell her to tell him to stop bothering girls, if you want.”

  
“No, it’s fine. I don’t think he’s going to bother me again.”

  
“Right,” Saeko gave her a knowing smirk, “thanks to lover boy over there, huh?”

  
“Shut up!”

  
“So he saw you for like two minutes and noticed the ring enough to remember that it was yours?” Kiyoko raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms just like the teacher. “He’s totally into you.”

  
Yachi denied it again, but the older girls would not hear it, so she went to fill the bottles up and left them to their gossip. After the game, which Karasuno won, making them now two-to-two and leaving the captains agreeing that there would be a tie breaker, Yachi helped take everything back to the bus while the boys were in the changing room.

  
She was carrying both water bottle bags, one on each shoulder, when one of them slid down the sleeve of her jacket. She tried to grab it before it hit the ground, but failed. She slipped the surviving one over her head and onto her other shoulder, but when she went to grab the fallen bag, someone lifted it first.

  
“Do you want help?” Kyotani was holding the bag up, not really handing it over but not throwing it on his shoulder yet either. Just waiting for her answer.

  
“Okay.” She tried not to hear Saeko and Kiyoko in her head, but it was an impossible task. “Thanks.”

  
“No problem.”

  
They walked in silence to the bus and he helped her put both bags in the trunk. The parking lot was empty.

  
Kyotani nodded and turned to leave. “Bye.”

  
“Wait!” He turned back around and she started internally berating herself. “Um, thanks again.”

  
“Uh… no problem again.” He waited a moment, waved and started leaving again. But then he turned once more. “Do you wanna go get, like, coffee or tea or something?”

  
She smiled. He was red as a tomato, and she felt better seeing they were on equal shy ground. “Sure! Um,” she pulled her phone out, “do you want to give me your number so we can talk about it?”

  
“Yeah, of course.” He took it and saved his number. When he gave it back to her, he even had a small smile on his face. “Later.”

  
“Yes. I’ll text you!” she said, shaking her phone for emphasis. It slipped out of her fingers, but she caught it.

  
He laughed. “Be careful.”

  
“Yeah, you too! I mean, bye!”

  
He waved again. “Bye, Yachi.”

  
Kyotani reentered the gym just as the Karasuno team walked out of it. Yachi was still coping with the fact that she’d just been brave enough to ask for someone’s number, and that she possibly had a date, that when Tanaka and Noya appeared suddenly in front of her, she jumped from the scare.

  
“Hey! Was that guy bothering you?”

  
“Yeah, what was he doing out here? We’ll kick his ass, Yachi, just say the word!”

  
“No, no!” She tried to calm them down, but it was really Daichi’s hands on their shoulders that did it. “It’s fine! He was just helping me with the equipment!”

  
She would not look at Kiyoko or, especially, Saeko. She could feel their smug eyes on her back as she climbed into the bus.


	5. Banshee And The Beast

“Yachi, come here,” Coach Ukai said when the official practice was over and the team split for the secret practice. He gave her a flash drive. “I’ve compiled everything that seemed half legit that I could find about banshees. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but you can read it and think about it, try things, I don’t know. I’ll keep digging, but just so you can get started.”

  
“Thank you so much, coach!”

  
“It’s the least I could do,” he sighed. “Seems like we both have to learn on our own. Me, how to druid and you, how to banshee.”

  
“Good thing that I like learning then!”

  
“That’s the attitude. You’ve had no more bad feelings since that whole thing, right?”

  
She took a second to think, but she felt okay. “No, everything seems fine.”

  
“Good… good.” He looked over the training werewolves. “Are you staying? I think Kiyoko just finished tidying up.”

  
“If you don’t need help with anything I guess we’ll leave.” She held the flash drive up. “I’ll get started on this.”

  
“Great, you should. You have my okay to go.”

  
Kiyoko agreed, so they said goodbye to the team and left. As always, Kiyoko offered to walk her to her bus stop and, as always, Yachi said yes.

  
“I have to tell you something,” Yachi said, forcing herself to look her senior in the eyes. “Remember Kyotani? The guy from Aoba Johsai?”

  
She gave her an eyebrow wiggle. “What did Saeko call him? Lover boy?”

  
Yachi laughed. “We’re going out on Friday. On a date.”

  
“What?” Yachi had never seen Kiyoko so surprised. “Yachi! Good job!”

  
“Will you help me get ready? I’m really nervous.”

  
“Of course!”

  
And so, on Friday, the girls left again when the secret practice started. Kiyoko walked her to the bus stop, but this time they both got on, heading for Yachi’s. She had been nervous all day, and now that the date was hours away, her hands were shaking.

  
“Is your mom home?” Kiyoko asked as they approached her house.

  
“No, she’s on a work trip again. She doesn’t come back until Monday.”

  
“You spend a lot of time alone, don’t you?”

  
Yachi shrugged. “I’m used to it. I have a lot of hobbies.”

  
She unlocked the door and they stepped into her empty house. Yachi grabbed her home slippers and the pair that Kiyoko wore every time she visited her, which was so often that Yachi had started leaving it with hers and her mom’s.

  
“How did you know that you liked Tanaka?”

  
“I’m not sure. I just knew one day, but I’d spent so much time trying to make it clear that I didn’t that it was hard to backtrack. But when we blew up the armory it felt so much like a movie that… I don’t know. I wanted to kiss him and I did. It just seemed that easy.”

  
“Wow.”

  
“It also helped that I knew he liked me back, obviously. Do you know that the first thing he ever said to me was ‘please, marry me’?”

  
Yachi’s jaw dropped. “He what?”

  
“I think you can understand why I was creeped out at first.”

  
“Wow…” Yachi thought about it. “I don’t remember the first thing Kyotani said to me.”

  
“Good,” Kiyoko said, still laughing at the memory. “That means it was something normal.”

  
Yachi gave Kiyoko free reign of her wardrobe. Her final outfit consisted of a pink flower print summer dress layered over a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of thick tights, because it was a November evening, after all. And, of course, her rose ring. They even played around with her mother’s make-up, but Kiyoko said that she’d probably feel more comfortable going without, like she always did, and Yachi agreed.

  
“I think that’s it, Yachi.” Kiyoko looked like a proud mom. Not that Yachi had much personal experience with one. “You look perfect. Where’s the café you’re going to?” Yachi showed her the location on her phone. “Oh, I’ve been telling Ryu I want to try it! Tell me if it’s good. Do you want me to walk there with you? My bus stop is close.”

  
“Yes, please!”

  
Yachi kept checking herself out on every reflective surface they came across, adjusting her beige coat, her hair. She felt cute and she was excited, and when they got to the café, Kyotani was already waiting. He took off his headphones as they approached. He looked pretty much like he had on Halloween, except for the dog ears. He was wearing a military green jacket, blue jeans and boots. A grey scarf covered the lower half of his face, and when pushed it down, he was smiling.

  
“Take care of my girl,” Kiyoko said, waving goodbye.

  
“Of course!” He squared up and held the door open for Yachi. “Ready?”

  
“Yes,” she smiled, stepping into the café.

  
. . .

  
“Okay, let’s wait two minutes and go in,” Suga said, adjusting his glasses.

  
“You understand wearing sunglasses when it’s already dark out makes you actually more noticeable, right?”

  
Suga scoffed and put the glasses away. “I hate it when you’re right.”

  
“Lie. You never hate me.”

  
“Seriously, stop being right!” Daichi went in for a kiss and Suga turned his face. “I’m mad at you right now.”

  
“Because I told you to not wear sunglasses?”

  
“I just wanted to be like a spy in a movie!”

  
“Spies are smart and don’t wear sunglasses at night.”

  
“Oh, you’re calling me dumb now? Okay.”

  
Daichi pulled him closer and kissed his forehead. “Will you stop being fake mad at me if I pay for both of us at the café?”

  
Suga pretended to think about it. “Maybe. It’s worth a try.”

  
They went in. There was already another couple ordering, so they stood in line. Then, Suga gasped. “No way.”

  
Oikawa turned around and rolled his eyes. “Oh, God. Are you keeping an eye on them too?” Daichi nodded and he scoffed. “Well, we have it under control. You two can leave.”

  
“Oh, shut it,” Suga whispered, “your little act is getting boring.”

  
“Hey.” Iwaizumi nodded at Daichi.

  
“Hey,” Daichi answered.

  
“You could at least pretend to be on my side,” Oikawa whispered at him.

  
“I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t care.” Iwaizumi took their tray. “Since we’re all here spying like idiots, do you guys want to sit with us?”

  
“No,” Oikawa and Suga said at once.

  
“Yeah,” said Daichi. “Are you waiting for us or going ahead?”

  
“We’ll get a table.”

  
“Alright. See you in a minute.”

  
“Iwa!” Oikawa hissed at him while they walked away.

  
They ordered and waited. “I don’t like Oikawa.”

  
Daichi shrugged. “I’m starting to think he’s mostly harmless.” At Suga’s outraged face, he backed up. “I mean, I hate him for how he treated Kageyama, obviously. But I don’t know. He did help on the red moon.”

  
“I still hate him.”

  
“People are complicated. And you never know when we’ll need allies.”

  
Their food and coffees were ready so Suga took the tray. “Let’s go spy on our baby girl. Is this bad parenting?”

  
“Don’t look at me! I was against this from the start.”


	6. Under Pressure

Daichi and Iwaizumi spent their time talking about the Shiratorizawa match, while Suga and Oikawa took turns between looking discreetly at Yachi and Kyotani and glaring at each other. When it seemed like they were talking about leaving, the accidental double date got up in a hurry and left the café. They hid on the same spot Daichi and Suga had been spying from earlier and watched them walk away. They followed at a distance.

  
The couple went into a park. Suga thought about how the date seemed to be going well, and how he would not be able to keep this spying session a secret from Yachi, because the need to hug her and ask her about it would be too overpowering. At one point, Kyotani took his scarf off and put it around Yachi, and both Suga and Oikawa gasped in delight before looking at each other in disgust.

  
There was a white van in the park, in a side path that wasn’t very well illuminated, and Iwaizumi pointed it out. “There was a white van outside the café too. I didn’t see the license plate, but I think it’s the same one.”

  
“All white vans look the same. Stop being so paranoid.”

  
“They already got that you’re annoying, Oikawa. You don’t need to remind everyone every five minutes.”

  
They walked into the tree-lined path Yachi and Kyotani had disappeared into a minute earlier, and Suga looked for them in the distance. He found them being hauled away by two people dressed in all black.

  
The four werewolves broke into a run. Two other men in black attire covered the kidnappers as they left with the kids. They raised up guns and shot at them in almost perfect silence. Suga felt something dig into his stomach and stopped in shock, but it wasn’t a bullet. It was a dart with a little glass vial at the end. He got it out and felt his legs give out under him. “Tranquilizers!”

  
Daichi fell in front of him. A couple meters further, Oikawa collapsed. Iwaizumi kept changing direction while running, tranquilizers flying past him, but the closer they got, the easier he’d be to hit. He disappeared from Suga’s sight into the trees, and he fought to get up again. He heard an engine running and what could be nothing but the van driving away. He stumbled towards the trees on weak legs, but he could feel his healing burn the tranquilizer out of his system. Iwaizumi was on the ground, but Suga run back to Daichi.

  
“Hey, wake up, come on.” He shook him a little, slapping his face lightly. Then harder. He didn’t come to, but he had a pulse. Suga heard a snap and turned to Oikawa, who was looking at his hand. A finger looked broken. “Did you just break your own finger?”

  
“The more hurt you are, the faster you heal,” he muttered, taking a second one and breaking it too.

  
“Stop it!” Suga was starting to feel nauseous. “Good grief!”

  
“What did you see?”

  
“They’re gone. Iwaizumi is down too.”

  
Oikawa managed to get up and go after him. Daichi still wasn’t responding, so Suga looked for the darts and pulled them out. He found three. Oikawa started screaming. Suga shivered, the shock wearing off and the fear for Yachi and Kyotani settling in. He threw Daichi over his shoulder and walked down to the other path. Oikawa was doing chest compressions. “He doesn’t have a heartbeat!”

  
Suga put Daichi back on the ground. “How many darts?”

  
“Five!”

  
“Five?” Suga’s hands started shaking. “Daichi is out and he got shot three times.”

  
“And Iwaizumi’s not an alpha!”

  
Suga run his hands through his hair, forcing the panic away from his brain. “Okay. Keep doing that. There’s a hospital close by. I- I’ll be right back.”

  
“Hurry!”

  
He shot out of the park and called Ukai. “Sugawara? Are you okay?”

  
“Yachi and a kid from Aoba Johsai have been kidnapped, and Iwaizumi was shot with a bunch of tranquilizers and he doesn’t have a pulse. I’m going to rob a hospital. What should I take?”

  
“Wait, what?”

  
“How do I fix it!?”

  
“Okay. Okay, Jesus. Take a portable defibrillator. If you can find an adrenaline shot take it too. It might say epinephrine. I’m going to google how to do it. Have you seen Pulp Fiction?”

  
“If I do that I might throw up.”

  
“After saving his life, you can throw up as much as you want, Sugawara.”

  
He crossed the fence into the hospital’s grounds. He ran around until he found the ambulance’s exit. There was one with the back door open right there, from some patient they were wheeling in. There might have been someone on the driver’s seat, but there wasn’t anyone around, so Suga put his sunglasses on again, pulled his sweater’s neckline over his nose, and ran in.

  
The defibrillator was obvious, so he took that without an issue. Then, he got to opening the drawers on both sides of the space. A lot of stuff he didn’t understand. He might even have seen the adrenaline and just not noticed it, but no, there it was, in a vacuum sealed plastic bag clearly marked ‘adrena-shot’.

  
“Hey, what the hell-“

  
He ran out. The paramedic couldn’t touch him or reach him before he mingled with other passersby, and then he was back in the park, running as fast as he could go.

  
“Lift his shirt up!”

  
Oikawa was sobbing, but he did it. Suga dropped to his knees and opened the defibrillator case, Ukai giving him instructions on speaker. It wasn’t working. Oikawa was crying silently now, holding Iwaizumi’s hand to his lips. Suga thought he might have been praying.

  
“You’re gonna have to do it. Do you have anything to sterilize the puncture area?”

  
“Obviously not!”

  
“Okay. I’m going to hang up.”

  
“What?”

  
“I’m sending you a picture of the spot you have to push the needle through. If you find too much resistance, you hit a rib, so try again. Good luck.”

  
“Please, don’t hang up.”

  
“You can do it, Sugawara.”

  
The screen went dark. Suga opened the plastic bag and took the cylinder out. It looked like an epi-pen. A message came in and Suga looked at the image. His hands were shaking. He took the cap off and poised the needle over Iwaizumi’s chest, checking again and again that he was on the right spot over his heart. Holding his breath, he started to push it in. When the plastic cylinder was pressed to his skin, he pushed on the plunger. Iwaizumi gasped and sat up, looking dazed.

  
“Hajime!” Oikawa grabbed his face. “Talk to me!”

  
“Ow,” he muttered. Suga took the needle out. “Ow!”

  
“You didn’t want me to leave it in.” Ukai was calling him again. “It worked!”

  
“Thank God. Now what’s this about Yachi being kidnapped?”

  
Daichi groaned and sat up. “Oh, now you’re awake?”

  
“What?”

  
“Nothing. There was a white van, people in all black shooting tranquilizers at us. I don’t know what the hell is happening. More hunters?”

  
“Kidnapping instead of killing you? I doubt it.”

  
“Twelve.”

  
“Shh.” Oikawa started caressing Iwaizumi’s face. “Just rest, you’re not making any sense.”

  
“The first numbers of their license plate were one-two. It was a Toyota white van.”

  
“I’m gonna hang up again,” said Ukai. “I’m texting Ushijima. Are you guys alright?”

  
“I think we are.”

  
The call ended. Oikawa dried his eyes and looked at Suga. “Thank you.”

  
Suga shook his head and got up. “Don’t even mention it. I’m going to… return this.” He put the pads back in and closed the defibrillator box.

  
“Where the hell did you get that from?” Daichi said, walking slowly towards them.

  
“An ambulance.”

  
“Wait… am I dead? Am I hallucinating?”

  
“I’m just a badass.” Suga smiled weakly. “And a criminal. I have to go.”

  
“So they really took them?” Suga’s heart broke all over again. Daichi sat back down. “Who are these people?”

  
Without an answer to give him, Suga just took off running. The surroundings of the hospital were being scouted by security now, so he left the defibrillator on the ground and repeated his run back through the park. When he got back, Daichi was on the phone.

  
“Coach Ukai is picking us up and driving us home.”

  
“Did he talk to Ushijima?”

  
“They’re going to investigate the license plate. They’ll tell us if they find anything.”

  
Suga sat down next to him. He was exhausted and yet, he knew he wasn’t getting a wink of sleep that night. “God. We have to tell everyone. We have to tell Kiyoko.”

  
“We have to cover for Kentaro,” Oikawa said. “I don’t think I can talk to his mom.”

  
“I’ll call her.”

  
Suga hadn’t even thought about covering with her family. With the school, if they needed more than the weekend to find them. Because they would find them. Suga only allowed himself to think in terms of when.


	7. It’s Just A Spark, But It’s Enough

Yachi could barely speak through her crying fit. “Please, let us go.” She looked at Kyotani. He was knocked out, three darts still stuck to him, one dangling from his neck with every turn the van took. They had shot her once, but she’d been so in shock that they hadn’t noticed the dart had only hit Kyotani’s scarf until she was already in the van. “Please.”

  
“Shut up! And you, hurry up!”

  
“I’m trying!” One of the men in face masks was fiddling with a black plastic circle. He got it to open, and Yachi tried to stop him as he went to put it around her neck, but there was nothing she could do against the hands that held her arms in place. “Done. This collar will tase you if you try to speak too loud, so don’t even try screaming!”

  
Another one kicked him. “Useless piece of shit! We could have ended up like with the last banshee we tried to get!”

  
“Well, I got it on, didn’t I?”

  
“Yeah, after you didn’t shoot her right!”

  
“Fuck off!”

  
Yachi didn’t dare speak anymore. It might have been a lie, but she wasn’t feeling brave enough to test it out. Not that yelling would do her any good. Not that anyone would hear her.

  
“Now restrain him, dumbass! If he’s a werewolf like that other kid, I don’t want to find out before we secure him.”

  
They would notice she was gone. Kiyoko would, soon enough, when she noticed it was too late for her not to have texted after the date. But how would they find her?

  
No, she couldn’t think like that. They would. Noya had amazing senses. Kiyoko would never give up. Tendou always seemed to find her, he might just find her without even trying!

  
They were never going to find her.

  
She tried to steady her breathing. She couldn’t afford to panic right now. Yachi knew that once kidnappers got to their location, that’s when the chances of getting away really went down. So she had to do something now. What would Kiyoko do? She would save herself. She would do something badass. Maybe if she could get one of those tranquilizer guns. It would be hard to miss when they were all huddled up in the back of a van, right? Her eyes widened. She knew just what to do. It was very action movie-like, but it could work? Maybe? With the surprise factor?

  
She took the dart still stuck to the scarf and stabbed the closest kidnapper on the leg. He crumpled to the floor. But before she could try to get his gun, she saw a punch coming that she just didn’t have the reflexes to avoid. She then saw the white ceiling of the van, and then nothing.

  
. . .

  
When she came to, the ceiling was grey. Kyotani’s face appeared over her. “How’s your head?” She went to touch her forehead, but his hand was already there, pressing his scarf against it. It stung. “You have a cut on your eyebrow. Are you dizzy? How are you feeling?”

  
There was a bruise on his chin that spread up his jaw. “I think I’m okay. Are you hurt?”

  
“It’s nothing.”

  
“You’re not heal-” Yachi had forgotten about the collar. Her vision blurred for a moment, and then the pain subsided. She gasped for air.

  
The door to their cell opened.

  
“Get away from her. Back to the wall.”

  
These guys had real guns. Yachi took stock of her surroundings. The cell was basically empty. She was lying in a cot that was fixed to the wall, like in a real prison. Kyotani got up from where he was sitting on the floor and stood against the wall, hands shaking.

  
A man with thinning hair and a leather bag walked in, looking tired. “Jesus. How old are they?”

  
“Not our problem. Give him the wolfsbane.”

  
He sighed and left the bag on the floor. He took a syringe out of it and faced Kyotani. He twitched and safeties clicked off. He let the man lift his sleeve up and inject him. It looked like it hurt him, and his eyes kept lighting up, flickering on and off, like he couldn’t control it.

  
“Yell if you need help,” one of the guards said, closing the door back up.

  
The man put the syringe back on the bag and took out some herbal compresses, like the ones Coach Ukai and Asahi used. “I understand you have a cut on your face?” he said looking at Yachi.

  
“Yes,” she whispered, touching the collar. She tried to find a clasp but she couldn’t find a way to open it. “Please. I’m sixteen. I don’t know what’s happening. Please, help us.”

  
“There’s nothing I can do, sweetheart.”

  
That’s what Coach Ukai called her. He’d been kidnapped too, by Mr. Takeda, and he’d saved himself. She would, too. She had to find a way. “What is this? Who are you?”

  
“Don’t worry about me.” He started cleaning her wound. “Bunch of savages…”

  
“Who are they?”

  
“They’re collectors. They capture supernatural creatures and sell them to the highest bidder. They will probably use your friend here to sell his bite. But you, dear, are a banshee. And that is very rare, and very valuable.”

  
“How am I valuable? I barely know anything. And why did they put this on me?” She tugged at the collar. “It’s not like I can control when I scream.”

  
He gave her a weird look and went back to his bag. He started sticking some thin band-aids on her face to keep the cut closed. “How long have you been a banshee?”

  
“Since April?”

  
He shook his head. “You’re all patched up, sweetheart.”

  
“Please.” She held on to his sleeve. “If you have a way to contact the outside, please tell someone. I can give you a phone number, her name is Ki-“

  
“I’m going right back to my own cell. I can’t help you. I’m sorry.” He went to the door and knocked. It opened. “Take her collar off. She’s not a threat.”

  
“You don’t know that.”

  
“I absolutely do. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Because you need an expert. Take it off, for God’s sake. She’s not dangerous.”

  
One of them came in, took something out of a pocket, and held it to the back of the collar. It snapped open. He left with it, and the door closed again.

  
She looked at Kyotani. He was sitting on the floor again and his teeth were chattering. She got up. “Are you okay?”

  
“I’m f-fine.”

  
“You’re not.” She took his arm. “Get in the bed, come on.” He went to protest again and she pulled harder. “Up!” He got in and she drew the blanket up, tucking him in. He was cold to the touch and shaking a little. “What did he give you?”

  
“Wolfsbane. The hunters had it too.” She hadn’t even realized it was his second time going through something like this. “It... cancels the werewolf stuff or something. I can’t transform, I don’t heal. I’m just human.”

  
“We have to get out of here. No one knows where we are.”

  
He nodded. “We’ll get out. What was that collar?”

  
“I don’t know. They said if I spoke too loud it would tase me. They seemed scared of me screaming, but I don’t get it. It’s not like I can help it when it happens.”

  
“Can you scream whenever you want? You know, like the banshee’s wail thing?”

  
“No, it just… happens.” She looked up from his bruise. “Wait, I thought you didn’t know what a banshee was.”

  
“I googled it. I only know what Wikipedia said, though.”

  
She laughed a little. “Then you know about as much as I do.” She sat down on the floor, but Kyotani bent his legs so she had space to sit on the bed, and she moved there. “I was reading notes about banshee stuff that our coach gave me, but I’ve barely scratched the surface.”

  
“How does it work?

  
“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s like a pressure in my head. Like a lot of noise, and only screaming makes it stop. But once it was very sudden. Maybe because I made skin-to-skin contact, I don’t know. And I think if I focus enough, I can know if someone is alive or dead.” He was silent, looking at her as she spoke. “In the red moon, when I tried, I could hear Tendou’s heartbeat. I knew he was alive, somehow. And when Mr. Takeda was… I was following his heartbeat. I heard the moment it stopped. And I also think I’m getting better at understanding the bad feelings that I get. At the end of the night, I knew that I screamed for Tendou because he was going to kill, not because he was going to die. And I was too late, but I also realized that Mr. Takeda was the one who… who did.”

  
He held a trembling hand out to her. His voice was steady. “Am I going to die?”

  
Yachi took it in hers and focused. It was like voices were reaching her from very far away. She couldn’t understand them, but she still somehow knew what they meant. “No. I mean, not any time soon.”

  
“So we’re getting out of here.”

  
“Or they are selling us to someone.”

  
“No. I’ll get myself killed one way or another before that happens.” She knew he meant it. “So if you say I’m not dying, it means that we are getting out.”


	8. I'm A Bunch Of Broken Pieces

The Karasuno pack was having an emergency meeting on Saturday morning. Besides their alphas, Coach Ukai, and Kiyoko, no one else seemed to know why they were there. Hinata, seeing their undereye bags and defeated expressions, was feeling very uneasy. He sat next to Kageyama and he took his hand before Hinata could. There was a laptop propped up on a folding chair. Only Asahi, Noya and Yachi were missing, but the first two got there shortly after him.

  
The four people in the know where sitting next to the laptop, in front of the group. Daichi cleared his throat. “Yachi and Kyotani, from Aoba Johsai, were kidnapped last night.” The room exploded in questions. “We don’t know anything else. We have a partial license plate that’s being looked into, but no answers yet. Ushijima said they might have found something and that he’ll call soon.”

  
“We have to find her before Monday,” Kiyoko said. “Her mother will come back then.”

  
“Won’t she notice before, even if she’s not home?”

  
“From what Yachi told me, they don’t really talk while she’s out, unless she starts the conversation herself.” She showed them Yachi’s phone. “And the kidnappers threw their phones out before leaving, so I can cover for her. But only through texts.”

  
The group started whispering again. Hinata turned to Kageyama. “Did you know?”

  
“Of course not, I would have told you.”

  
Hinata squeezed his hand. “Why would they kidnap her? Why them?” Kageyama just shrugged.

  
An incoming Skype call. Daichi, Suga and Kiyoko got in front of the computer. Hinata got up so he'd be able to see. The call went through, the screen split into two. One half showed Oikawa and Iwaizumi, the other, Ushijima.

  
“Good morning.”

  
“Where are they?” asked Oikawa immediately.

  
“We do not know, but we did find something. Thanks to Iwaizumi's memories of the van, we found a match with documents taken from the hunters last June. We believe they have been taken by a rarities and antiquities dealership which, if their information is to be trusted, also deals with supernatural creatures. I am sending you a link to their website.”

  
“Do they work with hunters?” Daichi asked.

  
“No, they were apparently another one of their targets. The hunters want us dead, and to profit off of supernatural creatures these dealers have to keep them alive.”

  
“Well, at least it’s better than the hunters, right?” Hinata whispered.

  
Kageyama shook his head. “I think they both suck.”

  
“The company has its main headquarters in Tokyo, but they also have a site in Sendai. I will speak to the leader of the Tokyo packs about keeping an eye on them, but it is possible that Yachi and Kyotani are still here in the city.”

  
“We’ll check their Sendai location out,” Oikawa said, typing on his phone.

  
“Us too,” added Daichi. “We could send a group in the morning and another one in the evening. Scout the place, the surroundings. Check out their security.”

  
“We can’t go ourselves,” Suga intervened, “they might recognize the four of us from the park.”

  
Oikawa nodded. “We’ll send our people in first. I’ll text you what we find out. Anything else?”

  
“No. We will be checking the exits to Tokyo for anything suspicious. Good luck.” Ushijima left the call.

  
“Like I said, I’ll text you later. Goodbye.” Oikawa followed suit, and the screen went back to Daichi’s Skype contact list. He closed the laptop.

  
“It was my fault,” Ukai said. “I’ve been asking around and searching online for information on banshees. I must have raised alarms.”

  
Daichi opened his mouth, but Kiyoko spoke first. “You were just trying to help her. And that’s a flimsy reason at best. Nobody here is at fault.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to the dealership.”

  
“I think we shouldn’t send a group,” Suga said, “we don’t want them to get suspicious. And teenagers walking around an antiques store is definitely suspicious. I’m thinking Kiyoko and Asahi. They could pass for adults.”

  
Coach Ukai crossed his arms. “I can go too.”

  
“I think Asahi would look… less out of place there.” The coach frowned. “Or maybe it’s just the clothes! Tracksuits don’t look very… adult, that’s all.”

  
“I’m eight years older than him!”

  
Daichi didn’t seemed very convinced either. “You can go if you want.”

  
“Yes, I think he should go instead of me…”

  
“No, it’s fine,” Coach Ukai sat back down, “if you don’t want me to go then I won’t go. Wait, why am I acting like a teenager?” He rubbed his face and sighed. “I spend too much time with you.”

  
. . .

  
Their kidnappers brought them take-out for dinner. Or breakfast. Yachi wasn’t sure what time it was, with no windows or phones or clocks, and since they had both been knocked out, they didn’t know how much time had passed since. Yachi was escorted to a bathroom and back at gunpoint, although at least they left her alone to pee.

  
“How many guards did you see?” Kyotani asked when the door closed again.

  
“Just the four at our door.” He looked ill again. “Did they give you another shot?”

  
“Yup,” he said through clenched teeth. Yachi tucked him into bed again. “I think I’m starting to know how it feels when it’s wearing off. We should break out right before they give me more wolfsbane.”

  
“Okay.” Yachi sat down on the floor, on her coat. He had a hand under the pillow, but it didn’t really disguise his shaking. She put hers over it, and he slipped his other hand over hers.

  
“Are you checking if I’m going to die again?”

  
“No! I just wanted… I can stop!”

  
“No!” He held her hand tighter, and then let go just as fast. “Unless you want to!”

  
“I don’t,” she whispered. They both went for the other’s hand at once. She rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes. She was hearing things again, but nothing she didn’t know.

  
“Are you doing… banshee things?”

  
She opened her eyes. “Yes. Sorry.”

  
“No, it’s fine. You can use me for practice.”

  
“I mean… it’s nothing useful. Just that you have killed people.”

  
“I killed hunters who would have killed me,” he said, sounding a little defensive. “I don’t think that’s bad. Do you?”

  
“I don’t know… I don’t think so.”

  
“My eyes are still yellow too,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “so whatever force out there who decides who’s innocent and who isn’t decided that they weren’t.”

  
Yachi closed her eyes again. She felt her mind going deeper. “You’re going to kill again.”

  
“If I have to, to get us out of here, yes. I will.”

  
“I’m sorry about your dad.” He abruptly let go of her hand. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to- I just knew suddenly!”

  
“It’s okay.” He didn’t look like it was, but he took her hand again.

  
“How did he die?”

  
Kyotani turned his head towards the ceiling. “Cancer.”

  
“I’m so sorry.”

  
“It’s okay.”

  
“It’s not,” she said, trying not to cry. “Is that why you’re…” She regretted starting the question. She wanted to ask if that’s why he always seemed so angry, but that was unfair. He didn’t look angry when he looked at her.

  
He held her hand tighter. “My mom says I was always angry before he died, that I calmed down after. But I’m actually angrier now, I just try not to show it around her. She’s already got enough to deal with.”

  
“That’s nice of you.”

  
“If I had been a werewolf before he’d died, I could have made him one too and the healing would have cured him.”

  
Yachi looked at him. His voice had remained steady, but there was a shining stream of tears falling from his eye to his ear. “There was nothing you could have done, Kyotani.”

  
“Werewolves already existed. If I’d gotten bitten earlier-“

  
“That’s not fair to yourself. You didn’t know.”

  
“But there was a cure out there!” He covered his mouth. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

  
“It’s fine.”

  
“It’s just so frustrating that I have a cure now, when it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  
Yachi looked at the ceiling too. It was empty except for the lighting fixture. “I realized that Mr. Takeda was going to die as soon as he started running towards his death. If I had understood my powers better earlier, I might have been able to save him. And everyone keeps telling me that it wasn’t my fault, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling guilty about it, even if I understand that, at the moment, I couldn’t have done anything else.” She turned and he was already looking at her. “So I get what you mean. But it’s still not your fault.”

  
“It’s not yours either.” Yachi smiled slightly. Kyotani sniffled and dried his eyes. “Tell me something good. Tell me about your family.”

  
She laughed. “You have to choose one or the other.”

  
“You have a dead dad too?”

  
“No. My dad left my mom because she was always working and never had time for us. She got custody of me and my dad ended up having to move to the States. But after their divorce my mom started working even more, so now I’m almost always alone.”

  
“I’m sorry.”

  
“Well, it’s better now, because of the volleyball team.” She hugged her knees with her free arm. “Now I have a lot of friends so… that’s good.”

  
“Yeah. It is.”

  
“My dad gave me this ring for my last birthday,” she said. Kyotani moved his thumb over it. “So thank you again for finding it. It’s really important to me.”

  
“I’m very glad I found your ring.”

  
“Even though we ended up here?”

  
He looked away from her. “Yes.”

  
Yachi covered her cheeks with his scarf. “Tell me something good about your dad.”

  
“He took me to the first volleyball match I ever watched. That’s why I started playing, and mostly why I’m still doing it.”

  
“Cool.” Yachi rested her chin on the mattress. “Let’s keep talking about happy things. What are you working on right now?” He’d told her that his main hobby outside of volleyball was painting. She hadn’t been expecting that at all, but she’d loved that fact about him. She’d been nervous when he offered to show her pictures, being sure she wouldn’t lie convincingly if she didn’t like them, but she did. He was mainly into landscapes, sometimes taking inspiration from images online, and sometimes taking the pictures himself if the sky was particularly beautiful on his way back home.

  
“I just started painting a picture of the Sendai forest I took last summer. It’s mostly just charcoal lines and some green from the trees so far, though.”

  
“Sounds nice. I’d like to see you paint sometime.”

  
He smiled. “Okay. Which of your many hobbies would you be doing right now if you weren’t here?”

  
Yachi thought about it, and yawned before she could find her answer. “I would be sleeping, first of all.” They both laughed. “I don’t know. When I’m feeling the most anxious I usually like to knit. It’s just the right amount of doing the same thing over and over but having to pay attention. Or maybe sewing. I have a skirt project halfway done.”

  
“You have so many talents.”

  
She started blushing a little. “Well, I’ve had a lot of time and no one to talk to, so…”

  
He sat up. “If you want to sleep, I’ll get up.”

  
“Oh, it’s fine. You’re the one who’s kind of sick anyway, you take the bed. Don’t you want to sleep?”

  
“I couldn’t. Not here.” Yachi yawned again. “But you could. C’mon.”

  
He folded the blanket away from him to get up, but Yachi asked him to stop. She climbed in, not meeting his eyes, and put the blanket over both of them. She threw her arm over his side and Kyotani put his arm over hers, pressing a hand to her back, like he was afraid she’d fall off the narrow bed. She closed her eyes and got comfortable within their hug. Kyotani rested his bruised chin gently over her head. Yachi closed her eyes.


	9. Just Take My Hand And Come With Me

“And we couldn’t really find anything useful inside, but there is a garage door right behind the dealership,” Kiyoko explained. “If Yachi and Kyotani are in this location, I think it has to be connected to wherever they keep people, for easy access when they have to move them around.”

  
“Any sign of them?” Kiyoko and Asahi shook their heads. Suga had been expecting that answer, but it still hurt. Daichi turned to the screen. “We don’t have much to make a plan.”

  
“We’ll just go in, then,” Oikawa said. “A surprise attack, with both packs. Three, if Shiratorizawa wants to help.”

  
Ushijima shook his head. “People seem to think that I protect Karasuno too much, in part because of your interventions on the last meeting with the Sendai packs.” Oikawa had at least the sense to look guilty. “Aoba Johsai is a big pack, and Karasuno is very capable, so I do not have a good reason to send my people out for this. I will inform the alpha of that territory that you have been cleared to be there on a mission. They might help you, but I cannot promise anything.”

  
“We’ll manage without you,” sneered Oikawa.

  
“Good.” Suga wasn’t sure if Ushijima didn’t care about Oikawa’s rudeness or if he hadn’t even noticed it. “I have other things to do. Goodbye.” He logged off.

  
“Of course you do,” Oikawa whispered, rolling his eyes. “Okay, here’s my plan. I like what Kiyoko said. We’ll go in through the garage door. It does seem like the fastest way to find them.”

  
“We all go in at once?” Suga asked, frowning.

  
“I don’t see why not.”

  
“Because we don’t know how many people are there, or the layout of the place, or almost anything at all?”

  
“We’ll prepare subgroups beforehand, and we’ll split as needed once we’re in and we see what we’re up against.”

  
Daichi looked at Suga and he shrugged. “I don’t really have anything, so we might as well do that.”

  
“It’s decided, then.” Oikawa was typing as he spoke. “We’ll meet somewhere close to the dealership at 10pm and we’ll go in and look for them. Don’t be late, as per usual.” He didn’t even say goodbye, just hang up.

  
“Well,” Daichi said, putting the laptop back on his bag. “I guess we have a plan.”

  
. . .

  
Coach Ukai drove them to the meeting point with the Karasuno school bus that he’d very illegally taken. He would wait for them there, to drive them back. The pack was mostly silent during the trip. Suga looked at Asahi. He had Noya’s baseball bat from Halloween in his hands, and it looked wrong on such a peaceful guy. He also had his druid stuff in his backpack, but he’d wanted to go in, and Noya didn’t want him to go without something to protect himself, so that’s the arrangement they had agreed to.

  
This time, they arrived first to the agreed place. Suga had insisted he didn’t want Oikawa to get there before them, and they had won this time. But there was a little surprise after Coach Ukai parked and they filed out of the bus. A motorcycle pulled up next to them.

  
“What the hell is this? Ryu!”

  
Tanaka froze. “What are you doing here?”

  
“You’ve been acting weird all day, and then you leave at night for ‘volleyball stuff’ looking like you’re off to war. And then you steal the school bus? Who the hell is even driving?” Saeko looked and found the coach. “Wait, you’re in on this?”

  
He looked between the siblings. “I… don’t know what to say.”

  
She turned back to her brother. “Well, you’re talking. Right now.”

  
“Please, go home.”

  
“Stop wasting my time and tell me what’s going on!”

  
He looked at Daichi, who shrugged. “I think you should tell her.”

  
“Yeah, I think so too!” Saeko was fuming. “Why is man bun carrying a baseball bat? Kiyoko!” She gasped. “I’d expect this insanity from my dumbass brother, but you? If you tell me Yachi’s in this mess too, I think I will have a heart attack!”

  
“Yachi is not here,” Tanaka said. “She was kidnapped and we’re rescuing her.” His sister’s eyebrows shot up in shock. She went to say something, but she was speechless. “It’s dangerous and I need you to leave. Please.”

  
“What, it isn’t dangerous for you to go in?”

  
“It’s less dangerous for me than for you.”

  
“You don’t say? And why’s that?”

  
Tanaka closed his eyes. “Because I’m a werewolf.”

  
“If this is your idea of a joke, I’m going to run you over with my bike.”

  
“It’s not.” He opened his eyes again and they were yellow. “We’re all werewolves. See?” He pointed at his mouth. “Fangs. Claws. Superhuman strength. So it’s less dangerous for me.” Saeko was covering her mouth. Tanaka’s confidence started to fade. He turned back to human. “Don’t be scared. I have it under control. It’s… it’s nothing. I’m still me.”

  
She shook her head. “You look even uglier like that.”

  
“Wow.” Saeko hugged him. “Really nice. I see how it is.”

  
“C’mon, Ryu! You know I think you’re the handsomest boy in the whole world!” She looked around the team. “So you’re all werewolves and you’ve been keeping it from me? Even you, little bro?”

  
“I’m sorry, big sis!” Noya went in to get a hug from Saeko too.

  
“I’m not a werewolf,” Coach Ukai said as he pointed at Asahi. “He isn’t either, and Yachi is a banshee.”

  
“Saeko, please,” Tanaka started, “just wait in the bus with Coach.”

  
She looked at Asahi. “He’s going in?”

  
“Yes, but-“

  
“Then I’m going too.” She turned and walked over to her motorcycle. She got a wrench from the trunk. “If someone took Yachi, I’m gonna start cracking heads open. You can stop trying to convince me now.”

  
The Aoba Johsai pack turned the corner, so the argument was over. The captains greeted each other. The packs organized themselves into groups. Karasuno would have three: the first ones to split would be Daichi, Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita, then, Kiyoko, Tanaka, Asahi and Noya, and now also Saeko, and the last group to leave the main body of the incursion would be Suga with the first-years. When everyone was ready, Oikawa gave the go ahead. And then, someone stepped out of the shadows.

  
“Hey, you’re not going in without me, are you?”

  
Suga had been expecting him. Oikawa scoffed. “I thought Shiratorizawa wasn’t going to help.”

  
“We aren’t,” Tendou said, joining them. “I’m here disobeying express orders.”

  
“I guess you can do what you want when you’re dating the boss.”

  
Tendou pouted. “Oikawa! I didn’t know you were jealous! Maybe you should have come to Shiratorizawa.”

  
He gasped. “I would rather gouge my eyes out.”

  
Tendou sniffed the air. “That’s a lie. Anyway,” he looked for someone in the crowd, found her and pointed a finger, “I’m going with you.”

  
“Okay?” Kiyoko said, giving Suga a sideways look. He was just smiling, amused.

  
“You’re the one who’s going to find her,” he said, walking up to her, “so I’m going with your group.”

  
“Well, if that’s all,” Oikawa sounded very annoyed as he turned towards the dealership, “let’s get to it.”

  
. . .

  
Yachi woke up from a dreamless sleep into a living nightmare, but being in Kyotani’s arms softened the blow a little. He didn’t seem to have slept, and as soon as he noticed she was waking up, he smiled. “I have an idea.”

  
He told her. Yachi was feeling very nervous about the plan relying on her ability to lie, but it was worth a try. The worst thing that could happen was that they just wouldn’t believe her. Hopefully.

  
Yachi took a deep breath and tried to remember how the banshee’s wail felt, and she screamed.

  
The door opened, two of the guards walked in with their guns up. Yachi kept screaming until her lungs emptied. Kyotani held her, pretending to be worried. “What was that?”

  
“She screamed,” Kyotani said, “that means someone’s gonna die.”

  
“Hey!” The guard who was aiming at Kyotani looked at Yachi. “What’s happening? What did you see?”

  
Yachi mumbled. They leaned in to hear.

  
Kyotani grabbed the gun of the closest guard. When he tried to fight him off, Kyotani headbutted him. He let go of the gun and stumbled backwards. Yachi retreated towards the cot, and the second guard aimed at Kyotani. The boy tried to aim for the hand that held the gun and pulled the trigger. He hit the wall, but the guard still dropped the gun in surprise. Kyotani kicked it away and Yachi ran to get it.

  
The guards had their hands up, their guns now trained on them, and they kept looking at the door. The other two guards didn’t seem to be there. Kyotani walked backwards and risked a quick glance out. It was a miracle, but the corridor was empty. “Yachi! Get out!”

  
She did and he closed the door, locking the two guards inside. “We did it!”

  
“Not yet.” He looked at both sides and chose a direction at random. “Stay behind me, okay? And check that way so no one sneaks up on us.” He took her free hand in his. She accepted it gladly. She was aiming her gun at the ceiling, very uncomfortable with it. “Wait, let me see that. You’re not gonna shoot, are you?”

  
Yachi gave him the gun, happy to be rid of it. “I’d rather not.”

  
He moved something, making a click, and gave it back to her. “The safety is on. Just use it for intimidation. If you see anyone, tell me and I’ll do it.”

  
“Why do you know how to use a gun?”

  
“I really don’t. I just play videogames.”

  
“Are you going to kill them?”

  
Kyotani looked at the gun in his hand. He was shaking, but Yachi wasn’t sure if it was the wolfsbane or nervousness. “You said I was going to kill again, right?”

  
“Yes.”

  
He nodded and they held hands again. “Then let’s see if your prophecies can be wrong.”


	10. A Hurricane In The Back Of Her Throat

Getting through the garage door was the easy part. They must have tripped out some kind of silent alarm because, as they made their way through the maze of corridors and down flights of stairs, they kept finding guards already waiting for them, guns blazing.

  
The first teams had already left the main group, and Suga tried not to think of what happened the last time Daichi went on without him.

  
He was walking in front of the group next to Iwaizumi, who was holding up a piece of the garage door for cover. When Suga heard guns clicking with empty magazines, he stepped out from behind their shield and ran. He smashed two guards’ heads against the wall in one swift move. He’d been too careful. One of them wasn’t knocked out, and he saw the glint of the knife just in time to kick it away from his hand. He slammed his head again, and this time he did fall. Iwaizumi had taken care of the other two. There was a stairwell going down to their right.

  
“Our turn,” Kiyoko said, walking forward. She hugged Suga. “Be careful.”

  
“You too, guys.” He squeezed her hands and let them go. He looked at the corridor ahead of them. There was a turn to the right. Suga got the impression this place was just one long corridor twisting its way to the center and around the different staircases. Hopefully, that would make their getaway easy.

  
“Let’s keep going,” said Iwaizumi, picking up their makeshift shield.

  
Suga took a deep breath and checked the first-years were still there, still doing okay. Hinata was jumpy, turning his head every few seconds and holding Kageyama’s hand, who seemed calmer but had a very intense look in his eyes. Yamaguchi was grabbing Tsukishima’s sleeve, and the blond was walking slightly ahead of him. He was even leaning towards him a bit, like he was ready to shield him if need be. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  
. . .

  
Yachi felt like they were finding very few guards, but she was not going to complain about it. They were getting through mainly by waving the guns around and locking guards into empty cells. Which made her wonder about the ones that they found closed. Were there other prisoners there, besides the man who was brought to their cell? Should they be trying to rescue them too?

  
They turned a corner and were greeted by gunfire. Kyotani retreated immediately, pushing Yachi back with him. She saw red spreading down his sleeve. “You were hit!”

  
“Idiots! Don’t shoot the banshee!”

  
“Barely,” he said, rolling up his sleeve. There was a wound on his forearm where the bullet had grazed him. “I think I feel it healing.”

  
Yachi had been wearing his scarf again, mostly for comfort, so she took it off and wrapped it around the wound. “There were stairs at the end of the corridor.”

  
Kyotani nodded. “I’m gonna try to shoot them in the legs or something. I don’t know. We have to get through.”

  
“What if we use me as a shield? They won’t shoot me.”

  
“No.”

  
She squeezed his hand. “Listen…” Yachi had been pondering something for a while, and it was going to be very risky, but it was worth a try. “Remember when you asked me if I could wail when I wanted to?” He raised an eyebrow. “The first time I screamed, when we didn’t know what was happening, Daichi tried to help me, but he was too close and his ears started bleeding. I think it hurt him, the wail. And these people, they seemed scared that I would scream, like, on purpose, right? That’s why they put that collar thing on me at first.”

  
“Are you sure you can do it?”

  
“Not at all.”

  
He was shaking his head. “I don’t like it.”

  
“It’s a better plan than yours. They will shoot you again.”

  
Kyotani peeked around the corner. A shot rang out. “Okay. Your plan it is.”

  
Yachi’s courage disappeared as soon as she realized that she’d have to actually go through with her very untested idea. She breathed deeply and thought of Kiyoko. She was so brave and strong and cool. Throughout her life, Yachi had probably spent enough seconds gathering the courage to do things she was afraid of to amount to hours. But when Tsukishima ran out of the gym during a full moon, Kiyoko ran after him. When Mr. Takeda was trying to take Coach Ukai away, she fought him without hesitation. Now, Yachi was going to try to be brave too. “Right. Stay behind me.”

  
They stepped into view of their escape route. Another gunshot cut through the air, missing them. Kyotani tried to push her behind him instinctively, but she was not about to take his cover away, so she stood her ground. “Hold your fire!” He was holding her hand again, his other arm extended past her, gun aimed at the guards.

  
Yachi focused. She was determined to make it work. It had to be possible. It was the only explanation for their behavior when they captured her. And that doctor guy basically said that she didn’t know how to be a banshee, which was true. Which meant that there was more to it than just screaming when something to do with death was going to happen around her. She breathed. Just like when she focused on someone else, those disembodied, incomprehensible voices filled her head. They were telling her she could do it. So she wailed.

  
She thought she could see the soundwaves tremble through the air. Yachi wasn’t usually aware of her screaming when it happened, as she fell into a sort of trance and then woke up to worried people around her, but this time she heard the inhuman sound coming out of her. Guards dropped their weapons to cover their ears, and she focused her wailing, her anger, her fear on them. She was getting out. They could not keep her here.

  
They fell, one by one. Ears were bleeding, noses. One seemed to be crying blood. She stopped and listened. They weren’t dead, but they were out. Yachi turned around. “Kyotani?”

  
He looked spooked, but okay. “That was… awesome.”

  
“Are you okay?” She grabbed his head, turned it to check if his ears were bleeding.

  
“Yeah.” They were really close. Yachi let go of his face. “Um. We should run.”

  
“Yes.” She turned back around. Her blushing was back, stronger than ever. “Yes, we should.”

  
They took the stairs. The only way was up. They found a door and opened it, but the floor seemed too similar to their own. There weren’t any cell doors in sight, but there weren’t any windows either, so they had to still be underground. And there was gunfire. They agreed they should keep going up, so they took to the stairs again.

  
Two more doors were the same until, finally, they opened the door to a marble wall. They exited and saw a ‘STAFF ONLY’ sticker on the door they had just closed behind them. They had to be on the ground floor.

  
Yachi and Kyotani walked into what looked like an art gallery. There were podiums holding works of art and antiquities, more showcases on the walls. A set of double glass doors before a metal grate and, beyond it, the street.

  
“It’ll be locked,” Kyotani said as they approached it. There was a metal piece in the middle of the doors with a lock on it. He took both handles and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. “I’m not strong enough right now.”

  
Yachi turned around and scanned the art pieces. “Move!” She grabbed a bust sculpture and almost dropped it, but he scooped in. “Woops. It weighs more than I expected.”

  
“On the count of three?”

  
They counted down and threw the sculpture at the glass. It shattered and anti-theft alarms started going off, making their ears hurt. She couldn’t hear whatever Kyotani was saying, but she understood the general meaning of ‘let’s check the metallic grate so we can get out of here’.

  
Yachi couldn’t see a way to unlock it. These things were usually closed from the outside, and it seemed like they were not going to get another stroke of luck. Kyotani pushed a button on the wall, but it only made the alarm stop. An improvement, but they were still locked in.

  
Kyotani was scratching his head, looking around for another idea. “Okay, they brought us here in a van, right? I think we have to go downstairs again. There could be another exit. They wouldn’t bring unconscious prisoners through the main door.”

  
“That makes sense.” Yachi was trying hard not to panic. They’d been so close.

  
“Wait, someone’s coming.”

  
“Let me.”

  
Yachi put herself in front of him and they waited, eyes locked on the door they’d used to enter the gallery. It started to open. Yachi inhaled.


	11. Truly, No One Is Alone

“Kiyoko!”

  
“Yachi!” The girls embraced, the rest of the group close behind.

  
“Blondie!” Tendou opened his arms, but they were still holding on to each other. He kept them up. “Fine… I’ll wait.”

  
“Yachi!” As soon as she started to pull away from Kiyoko, Saeko hugged her, lifting her off the ground. “Are you okay?” She turned her head, looking at the cut on her eyebrow. “Who did this to you? I will kill them!”

  
“Seriously?” Tendou dropped his arms. “Who even is she?”

  
“My sister,” Tanaka tapped her shoulder. “C’mon, let her breathe. You okay, Yachi?”

  
She nodded, wiping tears away. “Can you guys open that?”

  
Tanaka looked at the metal grate and rolled his shoulders. “I’m offended you have to ask.”

  
“Wait, let me help!” Noya and him went over to the door.

  
“Hurry up, guys!” Asahi’s knuckles were white from holding the baseball bat like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

  
Yachi finally got to hugging Tendou. “Blondie, are you okay?”

  
“Yes.” She was surprised that she actually meant it. “What’s going on? Who else is here?”

  
“A lot of people, actually,” he said, looking at Kyotani. “You two have a lot of friends.” He turned sharply to the door. “Stay back, blondie.”

  
A rifle appeared before the guard carrying it. Everyone moved, taking cover behind the podiums. Everyone except Yachi. Tendou grabbed her wrist, but she breathed in and wailed. Another guard had appeared behind the first one, and they both fell down unconscious. She escaped Tendou’s grip easily, as he was too in shock to remember to hold on, and she looked beyond the door. There was no one else coming. Yet.

  
“What the hell was that?”

  
She smiled at Tendou. “I learned something new!”

  
“Well, stop doing those things while I’m touching you because I think it means I’m going to die!” He put a hand over his heart. “I’m too old for these scares!”

  
“Let’s go!” Noya yelled out. Tanaka was finishing ripping a door-shaped hole out of the grate. “C’mon!”

  
Yachi let Saeko guide her towards the street as Kiyoko spoke. “I’ll go back down and tell everyone to leave. You take them to the bus.”

  
“I’m going with you,” Tanaka said, walking over to her.

  
Asahi had his phone on hand. “I’ll send a text so people start getting out.”

  
“Ryu, don’t do anything stupid, alright?”

  
He winked at his sister. “I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t even have time to miss me.”

  
“Will you be alright on your own?” asked Noya.

  
“Yes. You two make sure everyone gets on the bus safely,” Kiyoko said, looking at him and Tendou. “After the alarm they raised, police might be coming in.”

  
“Oh!” Yachi exclaimed. “There’s at least another prisoner here. If you can find him, try to get him out.”

  
Kiyoko took her phone. “You actually just gave me an idea.” The couple started towards the door. “I’ll see you later! Be safe!”

  
The group walked out of the antiques dealership. The air was cold and biting against Yachi’s cut. She winced and tried to cover it with her hand, and Kyotani helped her tie his scarf around her head.

  
Saeko smacked her tongue. “That’s gonna leave a scar.”

  
“Well, people shave lines on their eyebrows on purpose.” Noya run a finger through his. “I was thinking of doing that.”

  
“Blondie! You’re gonna look like a badass!”

  
They got to the bus. Coach Ukai opened the door and helped Yachi in. “Are you alright, sweetheart? Let me clean that, I’ve got my druid stuff right here.”

  
“I’m okay, but he got shot earlier.” The coach looked alarmed, searching Kyotani for a wound that was covered by his sleeve again. “Just a little!”

  
“Just a little shot?” Coach Ukai gestured for Kyotani to show him. He sat on the copilot’s seat while the rest filed into the bus, and the druid got to work.

  
A police car drove past them. A tense silence fell. Then, even more cars. And then, finally, a mixed group of Karasuno and Aoba Johsai members. Kyotani and Yachi got out of the bus.

  
“Kentaro!” Oikawa brought him in for a hug. “Thank God. Your mom thinks you’re spending the weekend at Iwaizumi’s. You two can talk about the details later.”

  
“Did you find him?” Yachi asked Kiyoko while Suga hugged her so tight it cut her breath off.

  
“No, but the police will. I called in with a tip about human trafficking. They’ll find him and anyone else they have in there.”

  
Yachi was feeling overwhelmingly happy. They’d gotten away, and their kidnappers were going to be stopped, and everyone had come out to look for her. Her fellow first-years enveloped her in a group hug, and even Tsukishima was smiling at her.

  
“Anybody else hurt?” Coach Ukai yelled from the bus.

  
There didn’t seem to be any injuries requiring immediate attention, so the packs said goodbye. Yachi had lost sight of Kyotani, but finally found him walking away between the captain and vice-captain of his team. He was waving at her with his phone, and she patted the pockets of her coat even though she knew hers wasn’t there. “Here,” said Kiyoko, holding her phone out. “We should get going.”

  
“Yes,” she agreed, walking into the bus. She sat next to Kiyoko. Kyotani had sent her a text: ‘your prophecy didn’t come true’.

  
Tendou’s red hair raised from the seat in front of theirs. “Hey, can you drop me off?”

  
Coach Ukai sighed. “Sure. You didn’t get yourself shot again, did you?”

  
“Not this time!” He turned around, crossing his arms over the back of his seat and resting his chin on them. He gave Yachi a knowing smile. “So… who was that guy? I mean, I know him from volleyball, but how did you two end up there?”

  
Yachi’s cheeks were on fire. Kiyoko smirked at her. “Yeah, how was the date?”

  
“Date!?” Tendou and Saeko exclaimed at the same time. She slapped his arm. “Move your ass over, I have to hear this!”

  
“Me too!” Suga sat down on the other side of the aisle, next to Yachi. “Full disclosure, Daichi and I were following you for the whole date, but I want the details.”

  
They interrupted her with so many questions that, by the time they got to Shiratorizawa Academy, she wasn’t done telling them about it, so Tendou called Yachi on the phone to stay in the conversation. That was about the same time Saeko realized that she had let her motorcycle behind, but she was so excited about Yachi’s date that she said she’d just pick it up in the morning.

  
“He texted! He texted!” Saeko slid down the notification bar and gasped. “Aw!”

  
“What did he say?” Tendou yelled through the phone. “I’m not there to read it!”

  
Kiyoko cleared her throat. “He said,” she lowered her voice, “‘do you want to go on another date? The chances of us get kidnapped again have to be low, right?’.”

  
“Oh, just tell me next time and I’ll organize the security detail myself,” said Tendou.

  
“Hey!” Suga exclaimed. “Our security detail was perfectly fine, and we’ll be ready for any kidnappers next time!”

  
“Perfectly fine? They took them right under your noses!”

  
“I think I’d prefer if no one follows us around for our next date…”

  
“Very funny, blondie.”

  
Suga laughed. “Yeah, not a chance.”

  
“Yachi, we’re here,” Coach Ukai announced, stopping the bus in front of her house.

  
Saeko turned to him. “But I have more questions!”

  
“Jesus, let the girl rest!”

  
Kiyoko got up with her. “Can I stay over?”

  
“Yes, please.”

  
“Okay, but we’re not done,” Saeko scrolled through her phone. “Hey, Ryu, give me Yachi’s number!”

  
“I got it.” Suga’s incoming call showed up on her phone, and Yachi added him with a sigh. It was going to be a long night.


	12. Like It’s The Only Thing I’ll Ever Do (Epilogue)

Yachi had come to an agreement with Suga for the second date. They would let them have some privacy, as it would be taking place in their club room, but the pack would be hanging around the Karasuno campus to make sure nothing went awry. She knew it was the best she was going to get, and it’s exactly what she got next Saturday noon.

  
Kyotani arrived a little early, and looking a little angry, but only until he saw her. She then realized why he’d looked annoyed: Oikawa and Iwaizumi had come with him to drop him off. It seemed like they were joining the watch team too.

  
“Hi!” Yachi greeted him, smiling from ear to ear. Suga gave her a thumbs up.

  
“Hi.” They were both a little uncomfortable with so many people watching them.

  
Yachi turned around. “Um, this way!”

  
He followed her up the stairs to the volleyball team’s club room. Someone had set up a folding table and two chairs, and Kiyoko had come in to take down the poster of girls in bikinis that they had there. It still didn’t look like a place to have a date in, but it was a little better.

  
They left their coats on the hooks next to the door and Kyotani opened his backpack. “Here. Wait, I’ll leave it on the table. My mom helped me make it, so it should be good.” There was a plastic container already on the table. “What’s this?”

  
“My friend Tendou baked something for us, for dessert. He swore it has no weed in it.”

  
“What?”

  
“Nevermind.”

  
“Did you say ‘weed’?”

  
“I- I’ll tell you later! Here’s yours.” It was a lunch date, and they had decided to make bento boxes for each other. Yachi took hers out of her bag, along with a parcel wrapped in brown paper. “I cooked it myself, so I hope it’s okay.”

  
“It’ll be great,” Kyotani said with a smile.

  
She handed the parcel over. “This is also for you.”

  
He took it. “What? We didn’t say anything about gifts.”

  
“It’s barely a gift!” He opened it. It was a grey scarf. “I knitted it myself, since yours got all stained with blood and everything. If you think about it, it’s like I owed you a new scarf anyway, so…”

  
“You didn’t. And I love it.” He hung it up on top of his jacket. “Thank you. I also brought you something.”

  
“What?” He took a rectangular package out of his backpack. Yachi thought it looked like a canvas. “You just said we didn’t talk about gifts!”

  
“I guess we both got the same idea. Open it.”

  
Yachi unwrapped it. It was a painting of a girl in a café, dressed in pink and white. It wasn’t photorealistic, but it was still clearly her. She had a cup of boba in front of her and was looking down as she drank through a striped straw. She had a line through her eyebrow, a healed scar. Her own real-life cut hadn’t completely healed yet, but she also hadn’t had it on their date, so it was a mix of past and future. It was beautiful, and it surprised Yachi to think that of an image of herself.

  
“I did it with gouache and I’m still learning to work with it, so it could be better. And I usually don’t paint people, so if it’s not-“

  
“No, I love it! I love it a lot. Thank you.”

  
“Okay.” Kyotani laughed nervously. “Cool.” He helped her wrap it again to get it safely into her bag. “Is that the skirt you were working on?”

  
“Yes!” She twirled, making it flare around her. “I finished it last night.”

  
“You look beautiful. I mean, are. You are beautiful.”

  
Yachi looked at him. At least the stupid smile on her face matched his. “Thank you. You look pretty great yourself!”

  
“Wait, I didn’t try the scarf on!” He wrapped it around his neck and did a spin. “How’s it look?”

  
She clapped. “Perfect.”

  
Kyotani’s smile got even bigger. He put the scarf back over his jacket and gestured to the table. “Ready?”

  
Yachi’s cheeks were hurting, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “Yes.”


End file.
